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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22857778">bitter water</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/greedlings/pseuds/greedlings'>greedlings</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>badthingshappenbingo [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drowning, Heavy Angst, i think that tag fits lmao</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 18:54:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>584</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22857778</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/greedlings/pseuds/greedlings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>he shouldn't have been alone, or walking on the lake. but it was too late for what-ifs.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>badthingshappenbingo [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1643200</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>bitter water</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is the second installment of my badthingshappenbingo! i was reqed to do edward and 'falling through the ice'!</p>
<p>if you'd like to request something, feel free to head over to @/greedlings_ on twitter and request something under my pinned tweet!</p>
<p>also yes the title is lowkey a reference to 'bitter water' by the oh hellos BUT only bc it came on in my shuffle and i thought the title fit</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>There was a sickening </span>
  <em>
    <span>crack</span>
  </em>
  <span> and the gut-turning feeling of falling, and Ed knew that it was too late for him before he even hit the water. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first thing that his Ed was the cold. It came on suddenly; one moment, the warm winter sun had been beating down on Ed’s face, and the next he felt his muscles seize as the near-frozen water wholly enveloped him. His body tried to gasp, the sudden shock of the cold forcing it, but there was no air. The only thing Ed inhaled was freezing water. He had to stop himself from coughing, from letting his last bit of air out from his lungs. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was so cold.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Slowly, Ed sank through the water, the weight of his automail leg dragging him down, and down, and down. He tried to struggle against it, to swim back up towards the surface, but his stiffened limbs only slowed his descent. It had barely been seconds, and yet the sharp pains of frozen metal against bare skin were already ripping through the nerves of Ed’s leg.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still he struggled. What else was he supposed to do? He couldn’t die. Not now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And yet no matter how hard Ed fought, he sank. Lower and lower, until almost no light from the surface penetrated through the ice. Ed couldn’t have been far below the surface of the water, and yet the swirling darkness of the water below wrapped it’s black tendrils around his ankles, pulling him ever deeper.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was so cold.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His chest ached as he fell further into the darkness. There was water in his lungs, and no air, and Ed desperately held back the urge to gasp for oxygen. If Ed could have cried, he would. Or maybe he was, and he simply couldn’t tell.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Either way, he continued to fight against his frigid tomb. Fighting was all he knew, and he was so used to winning, and yet he was so scared of losing this battle. The water didn’t care about the fight, however. It only cared about taking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was so cold.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t long before his vision grew blurry, his brain now pounding against his skull, pleading for air and warmth and safety. It was hard to think, and even harder to move, the icy pain that shot through his nerves quickly turning his limbs to ice. Still he fought; if he could only get to the surface, only breathe and scream and cry and </span>
  <em>
    <span>not drown</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was so cold.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ed could feel his conscience fading, no matter how hard he fought it. He couldn’t go here, or now, or like this. He needed to keep fighting. He needed to live.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was so cold.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He couldn’t hold his breath anymore, and he felt what little hope he had die as another rush of unsympathetic water entered his lungs. Slowly, painfully, Ed turned his head upward--or, at least, what he assumed to be upwards--hoping to see something, </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span>, that might be able to pull him back up towards the surface. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All he saw, however, was what he assumed to be the last beams of light visible in the darkness, dancing gently through the rippling water.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No matter how hard he fought it, Ed felt his eyes slowly close. He was crying now, there was no way he wasn’t. But even his tears flowed slowly, barely escaping his eyes before joining the cruel waters that entombed Ed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And it was so, so cold.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>comments are always appreciated!! &lt;3&lt;3&lt;3</p>
<p>you kind find me on tumblr @/greecllings and on twitter @/greedlings_</p></blockquote></div></div>
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